Research Archive

US authors have conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies evaluating auricular acupuncture (AA) for pain management.

Depth of needle penetration is important for relief of exercise-induced muscular pain, according to a Japanese acupuncture study carried out on twenty-two healthy volunteers.

Daily supplementation with ginger root (Gan Jiang [Zingiberis Rhizoma]) has been found to reduce exercise-induced pain by 25%.

A Canadian study has compared the analgesic effect of conventional (high frequency) and acupuncture-like (low frequency) TENS between a group of opioid-treated patients and a group of opioid-naive patients

A randomised controlled trial carried out in the USA has evaluated the effectiveness of a six-week tai chi course in reducing symptoms, increasing function and improving psychosocial status in arthritis patients. In the largest study to date carried out under the Arthritis Foundation Tai Chi program, 332 participants were randomly assigned to treatment or a waiting list control. The tai chi interv ...

A systematic review of TCM therapies for treatment of fibromyalgia has concluded that they appear to be effective. The authors looked at twenty-five RCTs (1516 participants) of which ten were eligible for meta-analysis. Acupuncture reduced pain scores and number of tender points compared with conventional medication, however it showed no significant effect on pain reduction compared with sham acup ...

Acupuncture may help to relieve the joint pain and stiffness that are a common side-effect of the use of aromatase inhibitors (AI) that suppress oestrogen production in women with breast cancer. US researchers conducted a study of 43 postmenopausal women with early breast cancer who were being treated with AI and experiencing arthralgia. They were randomised to receive true acupuncture (TA - auric ...

Acupuncture that elicits deqi has a deactivating effect on specific areas of the brain associated with pain processing. A UK team has investigated the effect of deqi and acute pain needling sensations on brain fMRI blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals. Seventeen healthy participants received acupuncture at Hegu L.I.-4 while in an MRI scanner. The fMRI measurements were classified into those ...

In order to clarify whether acupuncture is more effective than placebo for pain relief, two British authors have combined evidence gathered from systematic reviews of high-quality RCTs that compared acupuncture with sham acupuncture for chronic pain conditions. Eight systematic reviews with meta-analyses of pooled data were included in their analysis. For short-term outcomes, acupuncture showed si ...

Acupuncture enhances blood flow and oxygen supply to the Achilles tendon in healthy volunteers. In a crossover trial nine volunteers received treatment of the Achilles tendon with 10 minutes of either acupuncture or a heat pack. During needle insertion, the blood volume and oxygen saturation of the tendon increased significantly compared to pre-treatment levels, and these values remained high thro ...

A study has analysed postural changes after acupuncture treatment in a group of 15 patients with balance disorders caused by cervical torsion due to whiplash injury. The treatment consisted of 3 once-weekly sessions during which points Tianzhu BL-10 and Fengchi GB-20 were needled. Patients were given posturograhic evaluations before and just after treatment. 17 patients with the same symptoms, and ...

A randomised placebo-controlled single-blind study of 50 patients in Germany compared the analgesic effect of needling a single acupuncture point (on the arm) traditionally indicated for knee pain, with a simulated acupuncture treatment (control group) in postoperative knee pain following total knee replacement. The acupuncture group showed significantly greater pain relief lasting several hours. ...

The effect of auriculopressure on pain relief was assessed by comparing two groups of healthy students. In the first group, auriculopressure was applied to the 'toe' ear point and pressure sensitivity at the toe was measured with an algometer before and after treatment. The increase in pain threshold was statistically significant compared with a control group who received placebo stimulation at th ...

A study has shown that transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is less effective than electro-acupuncture in the treatment of chronic pain. 156 patients with chronic pain (lower back ache, osteoarthritis of the knee, and cervical spondylosis) were divided into two groups (one TENS and one electro-acupuncture) and each given fifteen treatments. In the acupuncture group, pain relief was m ...

A study carried out at the Department for Family Medicine at the University of Maryland has shown that acupuncture is more effective than placebo in the treatment of postoperative oral surgery pain (Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery 1999; 125(5): 567-572).

A randomised controlled pilot study compared the effects of standard emergency medical care to auricular acupuncture plus standard care in patients with acute pain syndromes. Eighty-seven people with a diagnosis of acute pain completed the emergency room (ER) trial. Participants in the acupuncture group experienced a 23% reduction in pain before leaving the ER, while average pain levels in partici ...

A retrospective audit of case histories, carried out in a Spanish primary care pain treatment unit, has concluded that acupuncture is effective in treating musculoskeletal pain. Electronically stored case histories of 5981 patients who sought acupuncture treatment for non-oncological pain at the unit, over a nine-year period, were reviewed. The primary outcome measure was the 'success rate', defin ...

Applying acupressure to Baihui DU-20 and Hegu L.I.-4 while in transit to hospital effectively reduces pain and anxiety in patients with distal radial fractures. Acupressure was performed in the ambulance on a group of 32 patients either at true acupressure points or at sham points. Vital signs, and pain and anxiety scores were recorded before and after the acupressure treatment. At the hospital, p ...

Acupuncture treatment is more than twice as likely as sham treatment to improve men's symptoms of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Malaysian researchers randomised 89 patients to ten weeks of twice-weekly 30-minute true or sham acupuncture sessions. The patients were scored on the NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI). Response to treatment was defined as a minimum six- ...

A systematic review carried out in Denmark and published in the BMJ has concluded that pain relief with acupuncture is minimal and mainly due to placebo effect. However, an accompanying editorial mitigates this seemingly negative result, explaining that interpreting the effects of sham acupuncture may be essential in understanding acupuncture's true analgesic effect. The systematic review assessed ...